I’m back in Tabarre working in the pool again, and it’s much different with all the kids in school. From the 15ish kids I had all summer, 50 seems like so much! I’m adjusting well to having so many children demanding my attention, and look forward to a semi-permanent schedule for the next several months.

The nurses have given me 2 new babies to work with at the hospital in addition to my 2 girls, Jolene and Liliana. Both boys are extremely small and look less than 6 months old, despite being a year and 18 months old. Neither are strong enough to go in the pool, and my newest is too small to even leave the hospital. Both will benefit from physical therapy, be it at St. Germaine, or just with me helping them bend their legs and arms in their cribs. I’ll take some pictures soon. Norma is confident that with work, Jolene will be walking in the next month, so I will be bringing her to physical therapy 4 days a week in the afternoon until this happens. She now has an orthopedic shoe and can semi-walk with me holding both her hands. She is stubborn though, and refuses to put weight on her bad leg. The other 2, Joseph and Lilana will trade off mornings for the 4 days of the week I’m in Tabarre, and every day I will spend 20ish minutes with my newest boy in his crib.

So with the babies, the pool with the older kids on Tuesday and Thursday, and helping out in class in between all of this, my days are very full. I have made a little friend in Shamana, a 4 year old autistic girl who falls asleep in my lap every morning and afternoon on the school bus. She functions at about a 2 year olds level, I believe, but is tough and isn’t fazed by the constant noise of the school. We have many more boys than girls and I think Shamana is the youngest.

A French woman who just returned to spend another few years in Haiti working for an agricultural organization came to visit the Father Wasson Center yesterday, and Robin, Johnny and I went to have a drink with her next door. The hotel is finally coming together, although they say it won’t be finished until 2011. Behind all the construction, they’ve already opened a beautiful restaurant and bar which is fancier than anything I ever went to in Portland. It has funky furniture, chandeliers and a nice view down to Port-au-Prince. The view from my balcony will be a lot nicer when everything is completed, but I’ll be gone by that point!

Besides that, I’m just getting ready to go to the DR tomorrow. Bus leaves at 10 and I’ll arrive hopefully by 5.